Anyone commuting in Illinois?

Warner

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Is anyone on here commuting with their bikes in the state of Illinois? I'm very interested in getting one, but if I can't ride it to work then it's fairly impractical for me. I just sent the following e-mail to the Illinois Secretary of State's office....we'll see what response (if any) I get from them. My guess is that they will want to lump it in with the current moped law, which would make it rather impractical, too. That means plates, insurance, etc. Not to mention they want you to have a title for it to register it.....how many bicycles have titles??? Here's my letter to them:

Due to the incredible gas prices lately, I have been looking into alternate transportation to work. My question pertains to the requirements for a power-assisted bicycle. I have searched high and low and have not yet found ANY specific Illinois guidelines for them. I am wanting to buy one of these but want to make sure I'm in compliance with the law before doing so. I think it was the $95 cost to fill my van that finally made my start thinking about alternate transportation. By riding my power-assited bicycle to work each day, I would save $10 a day, get some exercise, and use less foreign-sourced fuel. Please let me know how Illinois addresses power-assisted bicycles.

Thanks much,

Warner
 
Well, even if it is legal as far as the state is concerned, I found that my own city and at least one more in my travel path has specifically banned these things. I sent the following letter to my city's mayor and all of the councilmen...let's see where it goes:


Good afternoon council members. My name is Warner Xxxxxxxxxxx and I'm a 42 year old working professional that has been a resident of Elgin for 15 years. Due to the incredible price of gasoline I have been looking into alternative forms of transportation, and thought that I had found the perfect solution in a power-assisted bicycle. My plan was to commute to and from work on the bicycle, as they routinely achieve more than 150 miles per gallon. I have found that the state of Illinois allows such vehicles to be used as long as they are under 50cc's in displacement and the operator is a licensed driver. Perfect, I thought. Each day that I rode the bike to work would save my family $10. However, when I checked the municipal code in Elgin I was shocked to see that there is an ordinance specifically banning them. I can understand the need for laws to keep kids from riding their scooters and whatnot all over town, but for a law to be in place that bans the use of something like this for a licensed adult driver just doesn't make sense. Please tell me that I have misread the ordinance or that there are plans in place to look into this further. I can't afford to keep filling my van's gas tank at $95 a shot. I can be reached via e-mail or any time on my cell phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx
 
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